Browsing by Author "Semenchenko, Yuliia"
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- Economic viability of solar thermal systems: comparison between Ukraine and PortugalPublication . Semenchenko, Yuliia; Monte, Ana Paula; Kovalska, LiubovThe challenges for energy resources and the concerns regarding environmental protection are significant and will require several changes, not only on how the energy is consumed but also how it is supplied. Solar thermal technologies can take the lead in meeting the decarbonisation targets in Europe. Solar thermal systems are used to convert solar radiation into heat to supply domestic hot water and space heating in residential buildings. The current study analyses the initial theoretical research on the solar energy use, solar technologies, influencing factors, trend predictions and prospects for the development. The main objective of the current research work is to define a costing methodology that allows determining the total investment cost of solar thermal systems according to the system size and specification. Therefore, there is a need to analyse the solar thermal systems from the perspective of economic benefits as well as performing the financial analyses for such systems in Portugal and in Ukraine. To achieve this goal it was measured the technical and economic aspects of solar thermal systems to estimate the average production cost. Financial analysis was performed in order to define viability of such project and included Net Present Value (NPV), Profitability Index (PI), Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and Economic Life calculation. Moreover, sensitivity analysis was carried out in order to determine how some crucial values such as discount rate and energy price changes affect the viability of solar thermal system in both countries. With the purpose of accomplishing such goal the real market data provided by “Termozona”, “Solius.Energias Renovaveis”, The International Renewable Energy Agency, Institute of Renewable Energy NANU for Ukraine and tariffs from EDP and World Bank of Sustainable energy were taken into account. The results of the analysis showed that from the economical perspective, in Portugal, there is a considerable market opportunity for solar thermal systems though the government support and subsidy schemes from European Union are still required. In Ukraine the thermal energy produced by solar thermal systems is still not competitive with conventional energy sources but have big perspectives in case the government will provide the necessary support in terms of subsidies, grants or mandates. Therefore, created economical model is a helpful instrument as a high correlation between the cost results and the market data were achieved. The empirical results provided necessary information to fulfil the purpose of study, which is to understand cost efficiency and economical viability of implementing solar thermal systems in Portugal and in Ukraine.